In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s TB was much more prevalent
in Manitoba than it is today and there were no drugs to treat it. The
widely accepted treatment was simply rest and fresh air. It was also felt
that patients had to be segregated as the disease was considered contagious.
Hence the construction of several Sanatoria in the Province for the housing
of patients with TB “chasing the cure”.

The largest of the Sans was built on the north shore of Pelican Lake
in 1910. Actually, it started small but grew very quickly to accommodate
hundreds of patients.

The establishment of the Sanatorium at Ninette had a positive effect
on the economy of the village and it grew along with the San. The doctors
were provided with houses on the grounds and single nurses were housed
in a residence. However, spouses and families of patients often relocated
to Ninette due to the fact that “chasing the cure” often took
years. Also, a number of romances developed between patients or between
patients and staff that resulted in marriages and the taking up of permanent
residency in Ninette. As well, a number of the married patients whose
families followed them remained in Ninette after their cure.

The San at Ninette became a teaching hospital for TB and many new treatments
and methods of detection and prevention were developed there. Early in
the 1920’s it became apparent to the doctors at the San that many
people in the Province had undiagnosed TB. They deduced this from testing
family and friends of current patients. This led to the development of
“Travelling Clinics” in 1926. For the first few years clinics
were held only in places that had an x-ray machine, but by 1929 they devised
a way to put an x-ray machine, generator and portable dark room into a
van,( a remarkable feat!) and off they went into the more remote areas.

Most of the radiographers ( now called x-ray technicians) who staffed
the x-ray department at the San and conducted the Travelling Clinics were
ex-patients, as were most of the laboratory technicians and administrative
staff. It seemed that many of the long-term patients became so attached
to the San, they didn’t want to leave after they were cured! One
suspects it had something to do with the feeling of community at the San
and dedication to the fight to eradicate the killer disease.

The Tuberculosis Sanatorium continued to operate and provide jobs for
area residents until December of 1972, when it was rather summarily closed.
This, of course, caused great consternation in the village of Ninette,
but, finally, after several months of worry and confusion, the San re-opened
as the Pelican Lake Training Centre. The purpose of the Centre was to
house and train selected mentally challenged residents of the Manitoba
Development Centre in Portage la Prairie which had become very over-crowded.
The people selected were those deemed to be capable of learning to care
for themselves and their living quarters. The aim was to help them develop
to a point where they could live in foster homes in the community.

The Training Centre opened in November 1973, however, not all the San
buildings were needed for the Training Centre and some were allowed to
deteriorate. The old Infirmary building was demolished in 1982, after
being declared “derelict”. The irony was that they had a very
difficult job to tear it down and found it impossible to remove the foundation;
a new knoll appeared on the grounds as a result. The Gordon Cottage had
a happier fate: it was purchased by the village of Dunrea and moved there
to become their Community Centre which is still in use today.

The Training Centre met its’ mandate and by December 2000 all
of the residents had been moved to houses in the surrounding communities
and the Centre was closed. Ninette received the benefit of a new building
on Queen Street which is a workshop for former residents where they sell
their handicrafts and run a second-hand shop.